Chapter 88

Lucian’s POV

“Harold will pull through,” Dr. A said.

Jasper, Mom, and I released a collective breath.

“Is he awake? Can I see him?” Julia asked.

“Yes.” Dr. A motioned for Cathy, who stepped forward. “Follow Cathy and she will take you to him.”

“Thank you, Dr. A. Thank you so much.” Mom, with tears in her eyes, turned and quickly hurried to follow Cathy.

Jasper moved to follow, but then stopped, looking quickly between Dr. A and me.

“Go on,” I told him. “I will follow after I speak with Dr. A.”

Frustratingly, Jasper still lingered as his gaze slid to Dr. A. She gave him a look, a tiny little thing that started and was over in a second. Like he had been given some kind of message, Jasper nodded, and hurried to follow Mom and Cathy.

How strange.

I didn’t know Jasper and Dr. A even were familiar with each other, let alone that they were close enough to trade glances and be understood.

The knowledge now didn’t sit right with me, though I couldn’t understand fully why. I had no claim over Dr. A. Perhaps it was residual jealousy, because Dr. A resembled Aria so much. I had already lost Aria to Jasper, and now it seemed I might lose my friendship with Dr. A too.

Even if he was a good cousin, Jasper was a playboy and a cad. Why were these otherwise intelligent women lured in with his bravado and false promises? Couldn’t they see through his façade?

With Aria, I could ask those questions, but with Dr. A, I had no right.

Yet, Dr. A had revealed to me that she had loved someone who did not love her in return, likely her child’s father. Knowing that, she deserved better than another playboy in her life.

Jasper, for women, was nothing but trouble.

All of this was neither here nor there in this moment. Whatever Dr. A’s relationship with Jasper did not matter in the slightest compared to the health of my father. I also awed her a much needed apology.

“Thank you for helping my father,” I said.

“He’s not out of the woods entirely,” Dr. A said. “As long as his stress levels remain high, his heart will be at risk.”

“I understand,” I said.

“Do you?” Dr. A asked. “Can you tell me then, and be clear, what exactly is the source of stress in Harold’s life? Until that can be pinpointed and removed from his life, these instances of high stress will continue to occur and each will weigh further down on him. To keep his heart strong, he needs to stay calm.”

With a heavy heart, I sighed and nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately I do know the cause of my father’s stress.”

“What is it then?” Dr. A asked impatiently.

The answer was easy. “It’s me.”

Dr. A’s eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open, stunned. She had been expecting a different answer, perhaps, though I wasn’t sure what.

“I highly doubt that the Alpha King is the one who causes his father stress,” she said. “I’ve… seen you interact. He deeply cares for me.”

“It’s not me directly,” I said. “It’s the result of my actions. I’ve made mistakes, Dr. A, and those mistakes have had horrible consequences for the people around me. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be sharing this. I bothered you too much last time we spoke, and I’m doing it again. Please accept my apologies.”

“No,” Dr. A said very quickly. Then seemed to collect herself, and said again, slower, “No need to apologize. I’m simply trying to understand. I fail to see how any of this can be your fault, directly or indirectly.”

“It’s Sheila,” I said finally. “She and my father do not get along. They never have, but lately, with how bold Sheila has gotten and with my marriage falling apart, that relationship has strained even further. Sheila has taken to shouting at him. I stop it straight away, but I cannot remove either of these people from my life.”

“Your father is in a fragile state,” Dr. A said, her mouth tightening.

“I owe Sheila very much,” I said. “I have wronged in many ways… Yet now my inability to help her has caused all of this.”

Aria’s POV

Seeing this side of Lucian, so unusually vulnerable, tightened the strings of my heart. It made me want to comfort him however I could, as Aria or as Dr. A.

Lucian had destroyed our marriage by choosing Sheila’s side over my own at every turn. Yet, never once had I considered blaming him for his father’s condition.

Meanwhile, however, Lucian did nothing but blame himself.

I wished he could have opened up about these things to me as Aria. Maybe I could have helped him before things went too far.

But now, even as Dr. A, my heart yearned to heal his.

So, without thinking, I reached my hand out and placed it on his forearm.

“None of this is your fault,” I told him.

He looked down at my hand on his arm, then up at me. As our eyes looked, he peered deep down into me as if searching for something. I was searching for something too, wanting to know the depths of his guilt. Only if I could see it, and know it, could I heal it.

The touch, soft and gentle as it was, was meant to be a comfort at first. Yet, as it lingered, it became something more – something like a connection of two people.

“Dr. A, I –” Lucian started.

Whatever he meant to say was immediately swallowed by the sound of a camera shutter snapping closed.

Jumping away from each other, Lucian and I both looked to our left to see a photographer from the local paper snapping a picture.

“Hey!” Lucian called. He started toward the photographer, but the photographer must have sensed trouble. Immediately, he turned and dashed out the front door.

Lucian looked like he wanted to give chase, but he held himself back, glancing back at the entrance to the emergency room.

He was here for his father and he could not leave him.

“I’m sorry,” I said at once, feeling so terribly foolish. What had I been hoping to accomplish, touching Lucian like that?

And now a reporter had seen? Surely this peaceful moment would be twisted to whatever narrative they hoped to fill to gain clicks tomorrow.

Lucian pushed his fingers through his hair. “It’s not your fault, Dr. A. I’m the one who should apologize. You were only being kind and I… I unloaded everything on you again. Now I put you in a compromising position.”

“It’s fine,” I said, though with how clipped my voice was, it clearly wasn’t fine. But that didn’t make it Lucian’s fault.

This time, that touch, had been my action. Whatever happened next would not be the result of anything Lucian had done.

This time, I was entirely to blame.

I needed to get away from Lucian before I said or did anything else I would regret.

“You should go to your father,” I said.

“Right,” he said. “Yes.”

He walked around me, heading to the door of the emergency room.

There, he glanced back at me, only once.